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Exclusive: Philip Gardiner Talks the Exorcist Chronicles

Okay guys, I’m just going to throw this out there, but Phillip Gardiner’s upcoming U.K. exorcism flick, Exorcist Chronicles, sounds freakin’ bad-ass! They seem to be taking a different approach to the tried and tested formula and giving us simply one hell of a ride.

So recently I had the opportunity to ask Phillip Gardiner a couple of questions regarding his latest offering, Exorcist Chronicles and thankfully he has happy to oblige.

To give you guys a better taste of what’s to come, check out the official teaser trailer below the interview I had with Phillip Gardiner, and let us know if this is one that interests you?

Horror-Movies: How did you come about the project, and what drew you in?

Phillip Gariner: “The film came about through a discussion with Warren Croyle of Reality Films who had, with Joe Micallef, come up with a brief concept for a film about exorcisms and two different kinds of people who chased them down. It was intended for a series on the request of several folk I can’t talk about. Taking that brief, I thought about it and decided it was something I could get my teeth into and develop, especially as it was intended to be a pilot movie for a series. I could see how lots of the myths and folktales in the world could be written into the series and as a lover of X-Files, that interested me a lot.

Needless to say the film now has a lot of subplots built in ready for any possible future series, including secretive organizations, Knights Templar and Vatican intrigue. It’s a lot deeper than your average possession film.”

HM: Judging from some early photos, can we expect a lot of gore?

PG: “There’s just about everything we could throw at it to be honest. Some of the things we did were just disgusting and I have to take my hat off to the actresses who were simply not told before hand what we were going to do. When we had 750 insects on set the noise from the crickets and locusts kind of gave it away and started the gut wrenching, especially when she discovered what we were going to do with them and her. Lots of blood, lots of bruises and a lot of stunts. You really do have to admire these actors, they all did their own stunts and hey all came away looking like they’d been in a war zone. By the end of the shoot they were even starting to second guess me with “oh, Phil, I suppose you want us to jump in the lake again now…”

HM: What is different about the Exorcist Chronicles compared to many other exorcism themed films?

PG: “From the ones I’ve seen, almost everything. This isn’t about one girl, this is about thousands of them across the world. It isn’t even a normal “possession”. We had to teach the girls what we meant so they could recreate the vision. It’s more of the body and mind being taken over from within by an alien invader. It searches and tests, it wants to know all about this new body it has inhabited. But the existing mind wants to expel it. We certainly had a few laughs.”

HM: For someone who may not have heard of the project, what can they expect?

PG: “A very British film. Very bizarre. I don’t tell people what is happening, I want them to enjoy the process of trying to work it out. I also include symbols within the film that tell the tale. These can be cleverly placed objects, numbers, dates or even music and dialogue. It’s like a mystery. I suppose that comes from my background in writing books on the occult. Don’t expect Nightmare on Elm Street or Drag Me to Hell, instead, expect something very different to what you are used to. I’m not a lover of slasher films or gore just for the sake of it.

I prefer to paint to the spaces and let the imagination work, it’s much more powerful than a visual image. But, this film never stops, it’s a roller coaster and I hope people enjoy the ride and don’t want to get off!”

HM: How was casting for the film? It looks like it was quite an intense set?

PG: “Casting was a nightmare to be honest. Thanks to my Producer, Michelle Gent, it went smoothly, but choosing the right people out of so many was difficult because I want to give everybody a shot! In the end it had to come down to the acting ability and not looks or availability and I believe we have a fantastic bunch in Exorcist Chronicles.”

HM: What does the future hold past the ‘Exorcist Chronicles’? Any other films or horror related projects in the pipeline?

PG: “Here’s the plan. Before any final decisions are made myself, the studio and distributors will look at the final product. Then, depending on what we feel, we’ll decide on whether there is a theatrical release before going DVD, TV and VoD. It may be that we’ll hold off release and go to festivals. It may be that we’ll have a limited theatrical release. I just don’t know right now. But it will be released and widely. Then, again depending on what we feel, we’ll push for the TV series that it was made for.

When we’ve finished the edit for Exorcist Chronicles we have a ghost film to make and I’m hoping that some of the same actors from Exorcist will be involved because I’d love to work with them again.”